Texas Hold’em is one of the most popular versions of poker. For every Apple poker fan it is essential game. Today you can play it at many online casinos and best Mac poker sites. The best way to Learn Texas Hold’em Poker Rules is to play the game. Practice makes perfect, you know.
So, the main principle of the game is to make a combination of cards that will be higher than those of other players. When the game starts, you get two cards, and two players that sit next to the dealer have to make blind bets without looking into their cards. These are Small Blind and Big Blind. After the blind bets are made, all players can look at their two cards.
Game Process of Texas Hold’em Poker
In the first round all players should decide whether they want to raise the bets or not. When the round ends, the dealer has to put three new cards from the deck on the table. The cards that stay on the table are considered to be in hand of each player. Now you can see if you have a nice combination or to bluff is your destiny.
With the first three cards dealt, the second round starts. Now the players, like in the beginning, have three options:
- Check
- Raise
- Fold
Say “Check” if you don’t want to raise the bet, but to continue playing is a must for you. The Raise option lets you increase the size of active bet. This option is good if you have a nice combination of cards, or good prospects for one.
When somebody raises the bet, you can’t say “Check” any more. Now you can either raise the bet, or say “Fold”. If you choose the latter, you don’t need to increase the bet but you quit – your cards are not in game any more, and you don’t get anything. Meanwhile, other players that accept the challenge continue playing.
The second round of bets ends when the last player says “Check”, raises the bet or folds. At this point the dealer uncovers one more card and adds it to the other three that are already on the table. When the fourth card is in game, the next round of bets starts. The procedure remains the same – every player can check, raise or fold.
For the final bets round the dealer uncovers the 5th card, which is the last one. With five cards on the table, all players have one more chance to raise the sums staked, or just check their combinations. When the last bet round is over, all players that are still in game, uncover the initial two cards, and compare the combinations they have. Note that before the end of the game all cards should be kept in secret.
Texas Hold’em Poker Combinations
All-in-all, there are nine combinations in Texas Hold’em Poker Rules. To get a combination, match cards from your hand with those laid on the table during the game. In total, you can use up to 5 cards for a combination. The full list of lucky matches includes Pair, Two Pairs, Three of a Kind, Street, Flush, Full House, Four of a Kind, Straight Flush and Royal Flush. Every next combination has bigger value than all previous ones.
Now let’s have a look at the combinations in more details. For a Pair you need to match two cards of a kind, and if several players have a pair, the cards with highest value win. Two Pairs is a combination of four cards that include two different pairs (e.g a pair of Aces and a pair of Tens). For a Three of a Kind combo the cards that are in your hand and those on the table have to contain three ones with the same value.
Note that if one player has a combination that’s higher than those of rivals, this player becomes the only winner. But let’s go on. Straight means you matched five cards that go in a row. For instance, Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen and King of different suits make up a good Straight. The next combination is Flush. For Flush you’ll have to match five cards of different values, but with the same suit.
Full House unites a Pair and Three of a Kind. For Four of a Kind you’ll have to collect, for example, all Kings or all Fives. Straight Flush is a combination of cards with one suit coming in a row. For example, Three, Four, Five, Six and Seven – all of Clubs – make up a Straight Flush. Finally, the highest combination of Texas Hold’em Poker that can’t be beaten by any other match is Royal Flush. It consists of Ten, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of one suit.
Dealer Duties
Dealer is changed after every game. Every time this is the next player sitting in clockwise order after the previous dealer. This person gives two cards to every player in the beginning of the game. Besides, dealers have to uncover five common cards that are put on the table.
Before laying the cards on the table, the dealer has to put the top card from the deck aside. So, a total of three cards are excluded: one before the first draw of three cards, and two before the other draws of one card.
Another captivating game in the world of online poker is Omaha High which is similar to Holdem but has some specific details.
If you’re lucky owner of tablet devices produced by legendary company Apple you can check our list of iPad poker sites.